The Gray Cloud
by midnight.wolf62
Summary: Tyson's cousin, who he's never met, comes to live with him for a while due to an unfortunate accident. Chap 3 up: "Want something to eat?" / "Sure, breakfast sounds good right now." / "It's 4 pm." / "Just feed me, old man."
1. Smiling

1 - Smiling

_Fat cloud, skinny cloud, normalish cloud…Hey, just like people, _Lynn thought while staring out of the plane's window.

"I'm bored!" whined a little girl behind her.

"Shut up!" shouted the boy next to her. Turning around, Lynn guessed that he was her brother. The boy, about nine years old, caught her staring at him.

"What are you looking at?!" the boy spat rudely.

"You, what else?" Lynn mentally cursed herself for letting her tongue slip. Great, now almost everyone was staring at her with disapproving looks. Just what she needed, even more trouble.

"Hey, watch what you're saying to my children!" To make matters worse, she realized their mother was the one sitting next to her. No wonder the woman had given them candy before. Lynn had just assumed she was lonely. She turned to the woman.

"You're right. I'm sorry."

The woman huffed, scolded her children, and went back to reading her People magazine. To block out the fight that was starting once more behind her, Lynn reached into the bag at her feet and pulled out her iPod. The lyrics of Walking Disaster by Sum 41 flowed through her head and muffled the sounds around her.

**I haven't been home for a while**

**I'm sure everything's the same**

**Mom and Dad both in denial**

**An only child to take the blame**

**Sorry, Mom, but I don't miss you**

**Father's no name you deserve**

Lynn liked this song. It wasn't one of her favorites, but she liked it. No, not because it spoke about her life. In fact, it hardly held any relevance. For one thing, she wasn't a boy. Secondly, she _did _miss her mother - more than anyone would ever know. The only thing she could relate to was the first lyric. Before she knew it, the song was ending.

**I will be home in a while**

**You don't have to say a word**

**I can't wait to see you smile**

**Wouldn't miss it for the world**

And thirdly, she wasn't going home. As a matter of fact, she didn't even have a home. Her home became just a place to live when her mother had died, and she didn't even have that anymore because her father died.

_Both my parents are dead,_ Lynn thought.

She was going half way around the world to Japan, where she would now be living with her grandfather and his son, whom she'd never met before. She was to explain to her grandfather, whom she haven't seen or spoken to in six years, how his nephew had recently died, how her mother had been dead for four years now, and why she was there.

_I wonder if Grandpa's been taking care of his Bonsais, _the girl wondered before drifting to sleep.

After the plane landed, she went to Luggage Claim with a blue bookbag. Later, she left to find her Grandpa, who had promised to pick her up, with a bookbag, a gray suitcase, and a small cage that was covered up.

Everything looked blurry. Lynn debated whether or not to use her contacts, seeing how many things she had with her at the minute. She decided she might as well. After all, her Grandpa told her he'd be there at 3 pm. Right now, it was 2:26 pm. This would give her time to…figure out what to do before dying of boredom.

After putting on her plain contacts, which allowed people to see her original eye color, a bluish gray, she heard a soft coo. Blinking, she looked down at the covered up cage. Lifting the cloth, she saw her female Diamond Dove. She frowned.

"I thought you were asleep…"

…

She dropped the cloth back down, ignoring the coos. The bird would fall asleep, sooner or later. Besides, now she could catch up with her books.

Someone tapped her shoulder. Looking up, she found her Grandpa, grinning wildly.

"Miss me?"

"Not really." Lynn shrugged, going back to her book. The response she was met with was a hit in the head and one of those weird short speeches she never really understood. Either way, he was still smiling when he helped Lynn with her luggage to the car waiting outside.

Sometime during the drive, Grandpa started talking about Lynn's father, his nephew. The girl took the opportunity to finally tell him the news.

"How's my bastard of a nephew? He's didn't give you any more coffee when I left, did he? I remember this one time," Grandpa reminisced.

"Grandpa," Lynn tried.

"…and he was grounded for such a long time! He may have had his bad sides,"

"Grandpa," Lynn tried again.

"I'll give him a chance this time around. Where is the bastard anyway?"

"Grandpa. He's dead." Her voice was hard, final. She looked straight into his wide eyes in the rearview mirror. "Watch the road."

After explaining to him that his nephew had died from a gunshot on the way home from the liquor store, the rest of the ride was quiet. What Lynn didn't tell him was about her mother's death, and the aftermath. He had enough problems right now, and she had enough problems telling it.

When they arrived to Grandpa's dojo, he was no longer smiling. He led Lynn to the backyard, where she saw a boy with blue hair doing pushups.

"Tyson!"

"What? Can't you see I'm busy here?" The boy with dark blue hair didn't even look up. Then again, Lynn imagined that would be hard.

"Yo! This is your cousin!"

Still nothing.

"Do you wanna miss dinner again? Is that it, dude?"

That got his attention. "What? Is dinner already here?"

Lynn cocked her eyebrow before looking at Grandpa, who was red in the face with anger. "I feel sorry for you."

"Who's she?" Tyson asked after he stood up.

"Oh, now I remember. Gramps kept talking about a relative visiting." He grinned and folded his arms behind his head. "He was so distracted, I could get away with almost anything! And he rarely tried attacking me!"

"Really? How much things did he break?" Lynn asked, somewhat interested.

"Oh, just about three."

"Well, it's an improvement." Lynn shrugged. Tyson laughed.

"Ha! I know what you mean." He looked her up and down. She left her black hair down, so it reached a little past her shoulders. She was wearing light gray jeans, scratched up white sneakers, and a white Chinese blouse. The blouse had a mandarin collar, six frog buttons on the side, and was designed with gray plum blossom patterns. The bracelet sleeves, reaching just below her elbows, and the edge of the blouse were decorated with white trimmings. From this distance, Tyson could see that her gray eyes held a blue tint.

"Lynn, right? So you're Chinese, huh?" Tyson asked, holding out his hand. Said girl blinked. It wasn't everyday that she got such a weird greeting. Nevertheless, she smiled.

"Tyson, right? So you're racist, huh?" Lynn replied teasingly, shaking his hand.

If she could, Lynn would have burst out laughing at Tyson's dumbfounded expression. There was just something always inside of her that made her keep a distance from people she didn't particularly know well.

"Good to see you still have that sharp tongue. Just like your mother," Grandpa told Lynn with a small smile. Though something sharp hit her inside, she didn't waver; she kept up her smile when she looked up at him. However, there was a fleeting change in her eyes, one that her Grandpa didn't fail noticed. Though he didn't know about her death, he knew Lynn's mother had a brain tumor, and assumed something unfortunate happened.

"Well," Grandpa started. "I'll get your things to your room. Stay here and have fun once in a while! Loosen up!"

She nodded, handing over her backpack and her suitcase, but keeping her cage. There were reasons.

Tyson kept trying to convince her that he indeed wasn't a racist, telling her that he had friends of all kinds of races. Lynn pointed out that she couldn't know if that was true though, because none of his friends where here.

"Hey, what's in the cage?" Tyson asked, trying to change the subject.

"Oh, it's a diamond dove," the girl replied, lifting the cloth that covered the cage. "Her name's Mango." Tyson didn't find anything weird about that. Lynn shrugged. Grandpa did say that he was unhealthily obsessed with food.

The bird cooed, taking her owner's attention away from the boy before her. Lynn sat down next to the cage on a step and noticed that Mango's food bowl was empty. The Chinese girl looked up at her cousin, observing Mango.

"Hey, there wouldn't happen to be any seeds here, would there? Preferably sunflower seeds," Lynn asked. "Mango's hungry."

"Um…no, I don't think so. There is a grocery store nearby though. You could probably find some there," Tyson suggested. "If you want, I could take you there."

Lynn sighed, tired. She had jet lag, and now she had to go to buy sunflower seeds from a grocery store she's never been to. Sure, if she went with Tyson, they'd get to know each other more, but she was getting tired. All she wanted right now was to be alone.

Lynn forced a smile; one that she hoped would be one of the last today. "No, that's okay. Grandpa showed me how to get there on our way to the dojo," Lynn lied. In actuality, she had no idea where it was. Both of them were too distracted by their own thoughts during the drive.

Tyson frowned. "Are you sure? It's getting dark."

"That's okay. I like the dark," Lynn said with a small smile. At least that was true. "Do you mind taking the cage and putting it in my room though?"

Tyson agreed instantly. Lynn reached towards the cage and opened the door before slowly putting her hand up in front of Mango. The diamond dove hopped into her hand. Lynn searched in her jean pockets until she found a long piece of string. She tied one end on Mango's ankle and the other around her wrist. The bird flew to her owner's shoulder.

"I'm taking her with me," Lynn explained when she saw Tyson's confusion. The string was too long though, so Lynn wound it around her wrist a few times. After that was done, she handed the cage to Tyson.

"Hey, be back by six o'clock, okay? That's when dinner is," Tyson said.

"Sure," Lynn replied, nodding. She watched as Tyson went inside the dojo. Lynn took out her blue Nokia 5610 and checked the time. 4:43 pm.

_I have over an hour,_ Lynn concluded before walking.

"Don't worry," Lynn told Mango as she pet her head. "We'll get those sunflower seeds."


	2. Milano

2 -

As Lynn walked on an unfamiliar street, she was surprise that there were no people on the streets. Sure, there were cars that passed, but they were always going too fast for her to stop them. Then she looked up at the sky and noticed it was getting dark.

"Well, that would explain it…" And now she was talking to herself. Well, good thing nobody's around. But at this rate, she would get lost. Oh wait, she already was lost. Turning to face her bird companion of over five years, she could tell that Mango was very hungry. Lynn frowned and wondered if there were any stores actually still opened. She kept walking on the sidewalk until she heard some noises in an alleyway. There was shouting, and something that sounded like metal clashing against metal. Obviously, there were many people. She put her index finger in front of her mouth, signaling Mango to keep quiet. Walking around a corner, her hypothesis was proven right. There were about six people, all boys. All but two boys were younger than her. The two older boys, around her age, were beyblading against each other. One of them was cloaked. The one with his back facing her was obviously bigger.

_Probably dumber too though,_ she thought as she observed the battle. Lynn rolled her eyes. _It's obvious that the cloaked guy is holding back. _She didn't know how she knew, she just knew.

All of the younger boys were cheering on for the giant over there. As Lynn observed the giant and his followers, she found that they could probably destroy someone's beyblade and not care. This, from Lynn's point of view, looked like exactly what they were planning on doing. She was about to turn around and leave when she realized this was probably her only shot at finding out where that grocery store was. Ergo, she walked forward in their direction.

_Is it me or does it seem darker now? _Lynn asked herself, frowning. When the cheering boys caught sight of her, they stopped shouting. Instead, they began whispering to each other. Lynn didn't care. The only thing she cared about was finding the grocery store for some sunflower seeds. Was that so much to ask for? Actually, don't answer that.

Both bladers turned their attention towards the Chinese girl when they noticed the decrease in noise before concentrating on the battle once again. She stopped once she was a few feet behind the giant.

"What the hell do you want, girlie? Can't you see we're busy at the moment?" Lynn rolled her eyes at the giant's question. Unfortunately, his questions encouraged the younger boys surrounding her.

"Yeah, what do you want with our boss?"

"Hey, unless you want to be his girlfriend, go away!" (Lynn's face clearly showed that she was disgusted with the though.)

"She isn't worthy enough! Besides, girls are weak!"

"Annoying!"

"Stupid!"

"She's a freak!"

"What kind of person carries a bird around, huh?"

Lynn couldn't resist rolling her eyes again. Seriously? Was that the best they could come up with? One of her cousins had first called her a bitch when he was seven. This was nothing. And obviously, it would be useless to ask _these_ boys for direction.

"My boys not enough to get you to leave?" asked the giant. Lynn ignored him. Instead, she looked straight at the cloaked figure. He met her gaze.

"Can you give me directions to the nearest grocery store?" Lynn asked him, cocking her head. He nodded before going back to the battle. A second later, the giant's beyblade flew out of the beydish, barely hitting her. (Admittedly, she jumped a little.) The boy turned and started walking away. Lynn blinked and followed him, ignoring the complaints and colorfully chosen words behind her.

"So…are you going to tell me your name or do you just want me to call you something that includes the word 'cloak'?" Lynn asked, keeping some distance between them.

"My name is Ozuma," the boy told her in such a serious tone that it almost made her laugh. Actually, it did. Ozuma looked at her over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry, but your name reminded me of something." _A monkey, to be specific._

"And that is?"

"If I tell you, you'd probably leave me here to get lost."

In response, he gave her a look that read: I don't care. So that was it. They continued the walk in silence until they were standing in front of the grocery store. Lynn thought it looked more like a convenience store. Ozuma started to walk away.

"Hey, your name's Ozuma right? Wait here," Lynn said before going into the store. She didn't even wait for him to respond, so she didn't know whether or not he'd leave. If he didn't leave, he'd get something in turn for helping her. If he did leave, she'd just get to keep his cookies. After paying for the seed and the soda, she went outside and didn't see him. It wasn't just because it was almost completely dark out either.

Lynn shrugged. "His loss."

"What did I lose, exactly?"

She turned around to the origin of the voice, startled, and found Ozuma standing on the roof of the convenience store with his arms crossed. After she calmed down Mango and herself, she answered his question.

"The little trust I had in you and my first impression," she replied somewhat rushed. Then she thought for a while. "Wait, no, I still think you're a freak."

Ozuma scowled and jumped down a feet away from her. "Why'd you want me to wait?"

"Here," Lynn said, reaching inside the plastic bag and tossing him the container of cookies. "I'd feel guilty if I didn't do anything to thank you."

Ozuma read the label. "Milano?"

Lynn shrugged. "Only thing I could read."

Even so, he opened the bag and started eating the cookies. Reaching inside the shopping bag again, Lynn took out the sunflower seeds she bought (without the shells). Mango started flapping her wings, messing up Lynn's hair.

"Do that again, and you're flying," Lynn warned. She left the shopping bag to hang on her right wrist. Ripping open a hole in the plastic bag that held the sunflower seeds, she took out a handful with her right hand and closed her hand around it. She put the rest of the sunflower seeds back into the bag before she opened her hand. The bird flew down and rested on Lynn's thumb to eat the sunflower seeds. She looked up to offer some of the seeds to Ozuma, but forgot when she noticed she was no longer standing in front of the store. Without realizing it, she had followed Ozuma. She stopped. When Ozuma became aware of it, he also stopped and turned around.

"Something wrong?"

"…I have no idea where I am," she replied, looking around. None of it looked familiar, especially since it was dark. "Yeah…I'm lost."

Ozuma sighed. "You're kidding right? Don't you live around here?"

Lynn shook her head and turned to tell him something, only to stop when she realized he took his hood off. She decided not to comment on it. "Uh…no. I just came here from America. Why do you think I needed directions?"

Ozuma blinked. "It was dark…?"

"...You're kidding right?"

Ozuma sighed again. "Where are you staying then?"

"At this dojo place…" Lynn refilled her right hand with sunflower seeds again. "My cousin, Tyson, lives there too."

"Follow me, I know where it is," Ozuma said before walking again. Lynn started following him again.

"Sunflower seeds?" she offered.

He chuckled. "No thanks. Milano?"

"Sure." Ozuma held the bag out to her, and she saw that half of it was already gone. She took out a cookie and started eating it. Ozuma followed suit. "Still think I'm a freak?"

"Nah, you're just weird," Lynn told him, taking another bite out of the cookie. After she swallowed, she said, "Don't worry though. I'm weird too."

"Obviously. What kind of girl goes walking in an alley alone at night?"

"A weird girl that got lost," Lynn said, grinning. Ozuma laughed. Lynn laughed too, because she knew that he didn't know how ironically true that was; how lost she felt. For a few minutes, they continued talking, eating cookies and eventually eating sunflower seeds because something or someone in the universe hated them and the cookies ran out. The sunflower seeds were good though, and they didn't have any shells, so everything was fine.

"What's your name?"

"Oh right, I didn't tell you. My name's Lynn."

"Well, Lynn, we're at the dojo," Ozuma informed her.

"Oh…you're right," Lynn mumbled. It was true, they were at the entrance. Yet, even though Lynn felt grateful, she also felt sad. Trying to hide her sadness, she smiled. "Hey, thanks for everything. It was fun. See you later?"

"Um…yeah," Ozuma replied awkwardly. "See you later."

"Hey!" Tyson shouted when Lynn walked in the room. "You're back!"

"Where have you been?" Grandpa shouted.

"Yeah, you missed dinner!" Tyson exclaimed as if it was a tragedy.

"That's okay, I'm not that hungry. I got some cookies from the store. Really filled me up" Lynn took off her shoes and untied the string keeping Mango tied to her.

"And to lie to your cousin and go out alone? Are you crazy?" Grandpa yelled.

"Partially," Lynn replied. "Mango and I are really tired though, so we'll go to bed."

"It's only 7 though," Tyson said, ignoring Grandpa as he picked up his wooden sword and started slashing downward repeatedly.

"Jet lag," Lynn explained before leaving.

"Oh, well goodnight!" Tyson shouted after her.

"Night!" Lynn shouted back as Mango cooed tiredly.


	3. Magic

**3 – Rearview Mirror**

"Where's Tyson?" Lynn asked Grandpa before she yawned.

"The dude's with his homies. Want something to eat?"

"Sure, breakfast sounds good right now."

"It's 4 pm."

"Just feed me, old man."

Grandpa grumbled (something about 'whipper-snappers'), but got her food ready.

"Oh, before I forget," Grandpa said, turning around. "We need to talk about something."

"After the food," Lynn said.

* * *

"Hm…I forgot how great your green tea was," Grandpa said before taking another sip.

"And I forgot how bad your food was," Lynn mumbled. After a bite of his food, Lynn had thrown it in the trashcan and cooked the food herself. Of course, she had to cook again because Grandpa wanted some too. "Want some more?"

"Of course! No dude can ever get enough of this," he replied.

Lynn sighed at his dialogue, but poured him some more of the green tea she had made.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to talk about a lot of things. First things first: your father. Is there a funeral?"

"…I actually received a letter from the government about that. Hold on, I'll get if for you," Lynn said before putting her thumb and index finger in her mouth and whistling. Soon, Mango flew from her cage (Lynn always leaves the cage open) and landed on Lynn's outstretched finger.

"Go back and get _that_ letter for me, please." Thus, Mango flew away.

"Wow, neat trick," Grandpa said, wide eyed.

"Took a few weeks for her to get it," Lynn said absently. Mango flew back, except with an envelope in her clasped in her beak this time. The dove dropped the envelope onto the table.

"Thanks. Have some eggs," Lynn said, pushing forward a plate of eggs she had intended to give Tyson. She'd just have to make him some more later.

The bird gave her owner a skeptical look that only Lynn could comprehend.

"_Chicken _eggs."

Mango started to devour the eggs greedily. Lynn rolled her eyes.

"You're talking to birds now?"

"What are you talking about, Grandpa? I've always talked to animals." Lynn handed over the envelope to Grandpa. While he opened the envelope and read the letter, Lynn picked up her chopsticks and ate the rest of the food she didn't finish before.

"I see…So there hasn't been a funeral yet," Grandpa said.

"Nope," Lynn said, taking a bite of her garlic bread.

"There will be one though. I'll make sure of it."

"…Eh?"

"Don't you think he deserves one?"

"No," Lynn whispered, lowering her head. Grandpa's eyes widened, surprised by his grandniece. But then he remembered how his nephew was like. His eyes softened.

"I'll call Hiro to come over," Grandpa said quietly. "Then you can explain."

Lynn nodded numbly, no longer feeling like eating. Grandpa picked up the dishes and put them in the sink, all the dishes except the one Mango was still eating from. When he came back, Lynn was still sitting here with her head down, only this time it rested on her hand and Mango sat on her head, concerned. He went back into the kitchen to bring her something.

Lynn, who was stuck in her thoughts, was pulled out of them when something was set in front of her.

It was cup of tea.

She looked up at her grinning Grandpa. "Go on," he told her. "Try it."

Slowly, she picked up the cup with both of her hands. She remembered this tea. This tea, according to Grandpa, was magic.

She brought the cup to her mouth.

He used to make this tea for her every morning when she still lived in Japan, before her family moved.

She tipped the cup and allowed the hot liquid to pour into her mouth.

He used to make this tea for her when it was her birthday.

She swallowed.

He used to make this tea for her when she was sad, or when she was happy.

"It's still warm," Lynn whispered.

"I just made it."

"You know what I mean."

He used to make this tea for her when she doubted the concept of dreams, wishes, and magic, because it always made her believe again.

"Thank you, Grandpa."

"You're crying."

"Shut it and give me a tissue."

"Coo."

Then the three of them laughed.

* * *

Lynn was walking around the dojo in hopes of figuring out what to do. Grandpa had told her that she didn't necessarily need to attend public school because of the "hard time" she'd been going through. As a result of her guilty conscious, Lynn had decided to take on multiple odd jobs to earn money. 1/4 of the money would go to Grandpa, Tyson, and Hiro. 1/2 of it would be saved for her cousin, who was in jail and asked her and some others to bail him out. She would keep the other 1/4 for herself and Mango. Lynn nodded her head. It would have to do.

"NOOOOOO!!! How could he beat me? You bet your life there's gonna be a rematch!"

Lynn blinked at her cousin, who she hadn't noticed until his outburst.

"Tyson? What are you doing?"

"Huh?" Tyson asked. He relaxed when he saw who it was. "Oh, hey Lynn."

"Hey," Lynn echoed. "What are you talking about though? What did you lose in?"

Tyson sighed and muttered something Lynn didn't catch.

"What?"

"I lost. A beyblade. Battle," Tyson hissed through his teeth in anger.

"...So?"

"What do you mean _so_?" Tyson exploded. "I'm the world champion! I'm supposed to be the best beyblader in the world! Then this freak in a hooded cloak comes and _beats me_! To make it worse, I lost in front of my hometown! AUGH!"

"Tyson, calm down," Lynn advised. "You want to beat him, right?"

"Well duh!"

"Then shut up, clear your head, and start practicing and getting prepared! If all you plan to do is complain, then by the time you face him again, you're going to lose. Speaking of time, what time is it? 5:13? Shit, I'm going to be late for work," Lynn said before sprinting away. Then she stopped and shouted, "Tell Grandpa I'll be late for dinner!" before leaving.

Tyson blinked. Then he made a mental note to thank his cousin the next time he sees her.

"INCOMING!" Grandpa shouted, causing Tyson to jump.

"Grandpa! What's the idea of sneaking up on me like that?" Tyson shouted back

* * *

Lynn ran down the street as fast as she could. Of course, the cars and people in the way didn't really help. Where had these people been yesterday when she went to buy sunflower seeds? She turned a sharp corner and almost bumped into an old woman walking her cat. Yes, a cat. Thanking her fast reflexes for turning just in time, she continued running. She checked the watch Grandpa had just given her.

5:20. Lynn cursed. She had to be at that bakery for the night shift by 5:30, and something told her that she wasn't going to make it.

"Hey, watch it!" a man that Lynn accidentally bumped into shouted. Lynn made sure to turn around and get a good look at him while she was running; probably not a good idea but she planned of making a voodoo doll. A hobby she had picked up from one of her cousins. Turning back around, she rounded another corner. She slowed down a little because of the slope ahead of her. Then she felt something clasped in her hand. Bringing her right hand in front of her, she saw a wallet and groaned. She had stolen it from the man earlier. A habit she got from another cousin, except this one was most likely going to get her arrested. Despite it all, she slipped the wallet into the back pocket of her jeans.

Well, the man lost his wallet, but at least now he wouldn't be feeling sharp pains in the middle of the night.

Relief rushed to her when she spotted the bakery. She checked the time. 5:26. She was going to make it.

"You're late!" the obese woman in front of her shouted. Exhausted, she rested her hands on her knees before she checked the time again. It read 5:28. How was she late? When she pointed this out to the owner of the bakery, the woman pointed to the clock on the wall. It read 5:38. Obviously, the woman had set the clock ahead of time. Lynn knew this for a fact because she had already synchronized the watch with her cell phone, two news channels, and the clock at the dojo.

"An hours pay deduction!" her boss shouted.

_I guess I _will_ be making a voodoo doll tonight,_ Lynn thought as she stood up and caught the apron that was thrown at her.

"Your shift ends at 11."

"When's payday?"

"Tomorrow, but only if you're here on time," the woman shouted before leaving. Lynn verbally cursed the woman and kicked a nearby chair. She heard someone chuckle behind her and turned around. She saw a girl around her age. The girl had light brown hair that was tied up in a ponytail and hazel eyes. Under her apron, she wore ripped jeans, a tight black t-shirt and a red cap.

"I'm sorry, but do you find my misery funny?" Lynn asked.

"Hey, lighten up," the girl said with a grin. "At least it's payday tomorrow, then we can quit."

"Good point...So, how long did you have to work for her?"

"Tomorrow and it'll be a week. You have it lucky."

Lynn shrugged and put on the apron. "I guess. What job do you plan on taking after you quit?"

Now the girl shrugged. "I got nothing. Just want the money, y'know?"

Lynn chuckled. "I know."

It was quiet for a while. They both cleaned tables as another girl, who was supposed to be working the cashier, slept. It didn't really matter, nobody came in the shop. For what seemed to be the hundredth time, she blew a few stray hairs from her face. The girl earlier with the cap, Ashley, threw her a hair tie. After Lynn put her hair up and thanked Ashley, they started talking.

"So, what's your situation?" Ashley asked.

"...Huh?"

"Why does a 14 year old girl like you need a job?"

Lynn opened and closed her mouth for a while.

"Because her cousin is in jail and needs bail."

"That's it, huh?"

"Yep," Lynn lied. "That's it."

"Alright then," Ashley said. "As for me, my 17 year old sister is pregnant and we need to feed my other four siblings. Oh, and my dad's in jail too."

"Mmhmm..." As Ashley continued with her story, Lynn knew that they wouldn't be close friends. Acquaintances, maybe.

Lynn untied her apron and returned the hair tie back to Ashley before leaving. The walk home was somewhat cold, but uneventful. Lynn didn't mind. She rather liked the silence, the light radiating off the full moon, and the crisp air. And she loved the fireflies. Walking into the dojo, she could hear Tyson and Grandpa snoring. She smiled. She felt content, thus decided not to make that voodoo doll until tomorrow night. Or maybe after she quits. Either way was fine. She just wanted to live here as long as she could, because she knew she'd have to leave soon.

She _always _had to leave.

* * *

**Author's note. **

**Hm...I don't really like that part with Grandpa's magical tea. Oh well.  
**


End file.
